Second Time's A Charm
by chilipeppers13
Summary: Another exchange with Blackthorne leaves Cammie, Bex, Liz, and Macey psyched and freaked out, but also worried. But of course, once things get smooth, they always turn rocky.
1. Reunion

**A/N: Yeah, yeah, Ally Carter owns everything. **

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**Cammie's POV**

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"Eeeeeeeee!"

"Oh my gosh!"

"Bex!!! Liz!!!"

Our excited squeals filled the front foyer and joined the other girls', as we pulled into a big bear-hug.

"I haven't seen you since forever!" I cried, looking them up and down. Liz's hair looked blonder, and her skin looked tanner. She must've napped near the Alabama pools over break. Bex looked even more like a goddess, her cappuccino colored skin glowing and raven black hair glistening.

"And you didn't miss me?"

The three of us whirled around to see Macey, carrying a small Hermes bag. As usual, she was decked out in designer clothing, her diamond nose stud sparkled in the light, and her smooth black hair looked as shiny as it was on the front cover of Vogue magazine.

"Where are the rest of your bags?" Liz asked.

Macey narrowed her eyes and went back out the front door. Before it closed, we heard her screech, "Joseph! You forgot my bags!"

We burst out with laughter.

A moment later, a tall, nervous man came in to drop off Macey's Louis Vuitton bags. He left as quickly as he came in.

Grabbing their stuff, Bex, Liz, and Macey followed me, giggling, as we went into our room to get ready to go to the Grand Hall.

**Zach's POV**

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I was going to see Cammie again. I was going to see Cammie again.

Ever since I found out Blackthorne would be doing another exchange with Gallagher, I couldn't get her out of my head…

_-__-Flashback--_

_Jonas and Grant cracked up with laughter. I'd just told them one of the funniest jokes ever, involving a banana and a bikini….don't ask._

"_Gentlemen, I'd like your attention up here," Dr. Steve called. "GENTLEMEN IN THE CORNER OVER THERE!" _

_We immediately stopped when we saw that Dr. Steve's face was as red as a tomato._

"_Now, I have some simply __excellent__ news. First, for the junior class, I am pleased to announce that you will be returning to the Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women this year."_

_A loud clattering of forks dropping on plates echoed around the huge Grand Hall._

_Dr. Steve smiled. "Headmistress Morgan and I have decided that last year's exchange was a huge success, and that doing it again would be a valuable experience, indeed. Now, secondly, the senior class…"_

_There was no point in listening to Dr. Steve now. The entire junior class was talking, drowning out his voice._

"_Oh man, oh man," Grant babbled. "I get to see the British Bombshell again!"_

_Jonas' face was slightly red. I could tell he was thinking about Liz._

_And Cammie…I could picture her dirty-blond hair in the breeze, I could hear her soft laugh in my mind…I hoped she hadn't forgotten about me. I hoped she remembered what I said last year… "I always finish what I start."_

_Hopefully she still remembered..._

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_Later, when me and the guys were in our room, a bunch of juniors knocked at our door._

"_Whaddaya guys want?" Grant asked, opening the door._

"_Umm…we were…wondering whether you guys already had dibs on any—ˮ_

"_Girls. You know, like, uh, Cammie? Or Bex? Or...Liz?" said one of the bolder juniors, interrupting another._

_I felt Grant clench his fists automatically at the sound of Bex's name._

"_Touch Cammie, and you die. The method of dying will be chosen by Grant here," I snarled. The guys backed away slowly._

"_If any of you dare to touch Bex, I swear I'll—well, life will be a living hell for you," Grant finished._

_We both looked at Jonas._

"_Uhh…umm…Liz…" he stuttered. I rolled my eyes._

"_And don't touch Liz either," Grant stepped in._

"_All the hot girls are gone," a boy whined._

"_Well_, _you have Macey," I said._

"_You're right!" a few of them exclaimed. The mob of juniors headed down the hall._

_I kinda felt sorry for Macey, who was gonna have juniors to deal with now, along with the regular 7th __and 8th grade groupies. But I had to protect Cammie from a bunch of idiots, right?_

_--End Flashback--_

The van slowly pulled to a stop. We looked outside, and there it was: Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women.

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**This is my first fanfic, so pretty pretty please review! Thanks!**

**And Kelly, you better review! XD lol**


	2. Seeing Zach

**Cammie's POV**

"Now if you just hold still…"

"Owwww!" Liz complained. The Gallagher Academy had expertly trained us how to get over the hardest kicks and punches, but apparently, Macey tugging through your hair with a hairbrush was too much for Liz to bear.

"Macey, we're just going to the Grand Hall! You don't have to obsess over our hair," I groaned.

"Yes, I do," Macey replied, yanking the brush through the last section of Liz's hair. She straightened it and added, "And your makeup."

With a swipe of mascara, a brush of eye shadow, and a dab of Cotton Candy lip gloss, Liz looked nothing like the usual Liz. She gaped at herself in the mirror.

"Ohhhmygoshh…I look…" she murmured, lost for words. I was shocked. Even Bex was shocked. Liz had been transformed into

"Okay, what color should her flats be?" Macey's voice brought us back to reality.

As time passed, our room was a frenzy of nervous energy. ("Bex! Black nail polish!" *throws across room*… "Liz! Silver flats!" *shuffles past stacks of shoes*…)

Bex even attempted straightening my hair before Macey snatched it away and showed her how to do it _properly_.

Within an hour, Macey had skillfully transformed us into a trio of beautiful goddesses. But Macey herself simply pulled her hair into a ponytail and wore black flats. Even then, in her Gallagher Academy uniform, she still looked better than a supermodel.

Laughing, we involuntarily glanced at the sign – English (American) – and passed the door into the Grand Hall, where most of the girls had sat down to gossip with each other.

We sat at the juniors' table. It wasn't long before Tina Walters strutted up to us and asked, "So, Cammie, I heard you and Zach were chosen to be part of a top-secret mission over the summer. Is it true?" She stuck her face in front of mine.

Hiding my surprise, I said calmly, "No, Tina, I haven't seen Zach at all over the summer. Period."

"But, my source said…"

"Whatever your source said is wrong, Tina," Bex shot at her.

"Humph!" Tina stuck up her nose and walked away.

We broke apart the rolls of bread and started to nibble on them.

"I heard Mr. Smith's new face is creepily similar to Simon Cowell's," Bex said.

"Really? That's so—ˮ Liz reached for her orange juice, but instead pushed it over.

"Ahh!" I said, jerking backward. But it was too late. The juice had spilled all over my vest and started spreading to my skirt.

"Oopsie daisy! I'm so sorry, Cammie!" Liz apologized.

"It's okay, Liz," I replied. Macey and I left the Grand Hall to change into my other uniform.

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"While we're up here, I better freshen up your makeup," Macey told me.

I nodded, acknowledging the powers of Macey and her makeup skills.

We spent about 20 minutes up there when we could have spent only 5, but I guess it was worth it.

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**Zach's POV**

"Are we ready, gentlemen?" Dr. Steve asked.

I looked around. The guys were nervously shuffling around and adjusting their cuffs.

I could hear Headmistress Morgan's faint voice behind the large oak door.

"And once again, we will have the pleasure of having the distinguished young men of the Blackthorne Institute for Boys at Gallagher for another exchange."

"That's our cue," Jonas mumbled.

Dr. Steve stepped forward and pushed past the door.

Our group of 20 guys followed him.

The Hall was filled with girls staring at us. The 7th graders were, of course, drooling over Grant. Last year, when we bugged some gullible sophomores *cough, Tina, cough* we heard them gushing over Grant, the ideal "Brad Pitt body double".

We walked up to the stage.

I stretched a little so I could look for Cammie, but not in an obvious way, of course. But Cammie wasn't in the Hall. I could only see Liz and Bex, Liz staring intently at her bacon and Bex flipping her hair before taking a sip from her orange juice. Now that I thought about it, Macey wasn't here either.

"Where's Macey?" an impatient junior asked me.

I rolled my eyes and ignored him.

"Hello, ladies," said Dr. Steve, grinning like the Cheshire Cat. "I hope you and the gentlemen get along excellently. You _could_ end up working with each other in the future, yes?"

He talked some more about "togetherness", "friendship", and other stuff.

_Hello_, we're not in kindergarten.

Then he asked us to introduce ourselves, and he gestured toward me.

But before I could reach for the microphone, 2 very familiar girls burst through the doors at the end of the hall.

Macey.

And Cammie.

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**Cammie's POV**

I snickered. Macey was struggling to put on more mascara, while applying heavy coats of lip gloss and stuffing her feet into pointy high heels at the same time.

Finally, she finished, sending death glares at me the whole time.

The two of us…well, I ran down the stairs to the Grand Hall. Macey couldn't really run in her fancy shmancy designer high heels.

Before I reached the door, I turned around to look at Macey.

"Cammie, wait, here – lip gloss – your gloss is fading!" she tried to stick a tube of Raspberry Ice lip gloss in my hand.

Laughing, I pulled away and burst through the door.

The first thing I noticed was that everyone was staring at me. Confused, I looked at Bex.

_What took you so long? _She was mouthing. I started to blush under the gaze of the entire school, plus those people on the stage. I can't help it, you know. I'm born to be a chameleon. Macey caught up to me and forcefully grabbed my hand and put the lip gloss inside it.

It wasn't until then that I looked up on the stage and recognized some faces from last year. Including the face of the boy I had been thinking about all summer: Zach.

I dropped my jaw and slowly walked back to my seat.

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**Zach's POV**

I looked at Cammie. She really had changed. Her hair was longer, maybe a bit blonder (wow, had I really paid this much attention to her hair?) and she was taller. She still had that sweet, bubbly laugh that made me tingle inside.

When I caught her staring at me, I smirked.

"Hello, my name is Zach Goode. I'm a junior at Blackthorne." I caught some other girls (seniors?) sneaking peeks at me while Cammie looked like she was in an eating contest. She was literally shoving her eggs into her mouth. Macey whispered in her ear. All I heard was, "okay…like…him…" Were they talking about Jimmy?

"Hey ladies, my name is Grant Williamson and I'm a junior, too," Grant said, grinning. I could see a bunch of girls swooning when he looked at them…but Bex wasn't. Too bad she didn't know how crazy Grant was over her.

"Um, I'm Jonas Miller. And I'm a junior." Jonas hesitated before giving the microphone to a senior. He fidgeted with his hands before quickly glancing at Liz.

While the rest of the juniors and seniors introduced themselves, I thought about how I'd get the note I'd written to Cammie someplace where she would see it.

I felt for the Evapopaper in my pocket and briefly looked at it, even though I'd memorized it.

_Gallagher Girl,_

_Meet me at your favorite passageway at midnight._

_-Zach_

When Headmistress Morgan's announcements were finished, we sat at a table near Cammie's, so I had no problem slipping it into a pocket of her skirt when I walked past her.


End file.
